The Complex
by Kirrun
Summary: First story I was actually proud when I was finished with it, thought I would post it here, largely undone but 1,700ish words for the first part is fine by me, don't know if I'll come back to it or not quite yet. Anyway, summaries are not my forte, Adventure, action, twists, all those things will probably come given I have the drive to do it. Rated M for strong language/violence.


The Complex.

"Wake up Thanatos." I bolt upright in my bed, in a cold sweat, the machine's voice over the intercom that I've come to loathe, it didn't even call me by my real name. I long ago stopped thinking of the synthesized voice as an actual person, just my morning wake up call. I run my hand along the wall as I make my way to the bathroom, once there, I splash water on my face, dabbing it off as I went over to the mirror, looking back was a light skinned, thin man, and as always, a bit of stubble evident from overnight, the black hair on top of my head matching it, I learned that keeping it short would help. Finally, I throw on a regular old fashion coat, over my shirt that was left out, both a pale green in color, same as the pants I had put on moments ago. It seems too much time had passed, looking up to the box, it barks out another order at me, "Leave, now." so I do. Can't even grab my boots.

The hallways were like the walls of my room, bleak and barren, like the person who designed them had no soul, or any artistic prowess. The kitchen had only a fridge, humming softly with the whirl of electricity, I open it up, take out some of the boxed eggs, stale bread, and the jug of water that was waiting for me, between scarfing down my measly meal, I have time to think about what this place is, as per my morning routine, from what I've seen so far, it's a human testing ground, pushing us to the limit in different tests, our sanity, endurance, strength, and how well we work with each other, depending on if the test consists of groups or not. Each time I'm paired with a group, its different people, leaving me to wonder how many they have waiting for tests. There have been plenty of those in my group who have gone off and gotten killed, but I've saved about the same amount from their fate. I hear the machines drumming up. A sound that ruled my life for as long as I could remember, then the dart hit, and everything went black.

I gasp awake, half expecting to be plunged into some war-torn piece of hell, but instead, I was looking in awe at my lush surroundings, never had they put me this close to nature before, with a shake of my head I let the novelty feel of it fade, knowing it wasn't -truly- a forest, the places out there confirmed that grim detail for me, no where was safe. First things first, gather supplies, water, food, anything of use, wandering through the vines and bushes that blocked my path is not easy, it's like going at a snail's pace, finally I hear running water, but the years have made me wary, grabbing hold of one of the older tree limbs, I heft up over it, climbing for a vantage point. A good thing I did as well, on my perch, I could see shifting figures around the water, they were not moving like friends, but darting, dashing an erratic dance that spelled combat, a slash, blood splatter that soaked into the water, running it red, and it was over, the winning manic, a man with a crazed gleam in his eyes that had the looks of near starvation on them, took his time searching over his prize. Once done, he drags the body away, I shudder to think what he would do next.

Still shaking a bit, I make my way down, slowly inching toward the running water, knowing the danger it could pose, being out in the middle of an open area, could spell death in more than one ways. I look at my reflection in the water, distorted by the runoff, then submerge my head in, the cold sensation clearing my mind of any remnants of the drugs within my system. Just as I went to bring my head up for breath, the patter of feet warns me of the incoming blow, something smashes into my skull, blinding white light fills my vision, but instincts tell me to get up, i push off, half my body soaked from being shoved into the water, and turn to face my enemy, another, more scrawny looking man bears down on me with a club as long as his arm. I take a calming breath and step back from the fight, giving me a fraction of a second to think before he was rushing toward me again, his blows were clumsy, much like a child's would be, I evade, back step around his oafish guard and kick out his left knee, a jarring crack that almost echoed in the wind as his paper-like bone seems to shatter from the force of my boot. I glance around for any other assailants, finding none, I decide to finish what I started, abruptly ending one small threat in the jungle with a twist of my hands.

It's day five of my testing in this jungle/wilderness, my club, scavenged after the brawl, at my side as I crawl on the floor, looking for another meal, I've been satisfied with rabbits up to this point, but my supply is dwindling, like a leopard, with a practiced movement, swaying my head side to side, I scan for prey, I spot a reflection in the distance, thirty or forty meters away, instantly I go still, no animal does that. licking my lips, my heart pounding in my chest, I make my first tentative shuffle, at a painfully slow pace. I make my way over to the shining light. Men in bio hazard suits dump barrels and barrels of toxic waste into the ground, suddenly making me wish I hadn't eaten anything, I dart up, in my haste forgetting about silence as a thorn from one of the vines rips my coat open, they all jerk their heads in my direction. One taps away at her wrist, feverishly glancing up to me every few seconds, it hit me, they think I'm one of the insane stationed here, that means they don't know about the testing. Before I can blink, a drone comes from the convoy that the troops were using, a grizzly looking machine gun attached, already whirling it up, I rip away from the scene, cursing under my breath, the machine never stops following, over hills, through plains, high grass, it doggedly follows, right on my heels, waiting for a shot. I hear a 'ping' and it goes careening out of the sky, catching my breath I glance around, things like that just don't happen, somebody helped, or maybe they just wanted me for their own.

I stumble, exhausted, and fall flat on the ground, a figure looms over me before tilting my head back and draining some water into my parched mouth. Coughing I manage to sit up and look at my savior, a man shorter than me, stout, but with a rifle attached to his back, clothes torn and shredded much like my own, I await the blow that would kill me, but it never comes. Instead there is a hand offered out, gingerly, I take it, and get up to my feet. "Thanks." I mutter, not fully understanding the situation.

"Yeah. Glad to see I'm not the only one who isn't crazy out here." he returns in a gruff tone. I make my way over to the machine that would have ripped me apart, like a mini-helicopter in the old days. I try to rip away it's gun, only getting protesting groans from the metal, the man, now watching at my left, gives me a hand, together we dismantle it, gaining a new deadly weapon.

"What is wrong with people here? Besides the insane part, that happens often enough, but this." I gesture to the broken down drone, "Is way too advanced."

The man doesn't respond right away, taking his time, "No idea." he gives a laugh, but it was cold and dry. "But I did see that thing they got, it can move us out of here, so long as they haven't ran off with their tail between their legs."

So the choice was made, making our way back to the site where the vehicle should still be. Brushing our way through the clearing, we went on, silently, matching in pace and rhythm, finally, I brush back some branches only to be met with the acrid smell of dead bodies and chemicals. Steeling my nerves, with a glance to my side to be sure my new partner in crime was ready to go, we burst through, guns sweeping all around, a shot rings close in my ear, but I have no time to call out as I lift my own up to level. A woman bursts through the clearing, wild eyed and holding a dangerous looking machete, I don't bother to contemplate where she got the weapon as I squeeze the trigger twice, causing a shower of red to plume out from her chest, not bothering to watch her hit the ground, I break for the car, the footsteps behind me indicating my friend was following, along with many others. We slam the doors shut, breathing heavily, banging all around rocks the large truck, no sooner than when we entered, I find the key above the dash, ramming it into the ignition, shifting to drive, and putting my boot to the grindstone, the truck shoots forward, down the trail, gaining speed.

I chuckle, the thought of it, finally free, from the testing, killing, everything, the choices I make will be mine from now on. I pat my friend on the back as we drive, "Can't believe we did that…" the road is open, so I decide to take a glance over at him, "Never got your name, by the way." at this point, he seems close to nodding off, so I don't bother trying to get a response. Then suddenly, I see him, out of the corner of my eye, brandishing a small length of pipe, which then smashes down, causing the car to veer off the road and into the grass, grinding to a halt. I groan in protest as he raises it again. My thoughts race, coming down to one conclusion. He was working with them. "You don't need to know my name, wouldn't help you either way." then I feel the force of the hit, blackening my world. Time passed, how much, I couldn't tell.

"Welcome back, Thanatos." The robot said, in a slightly more cheery tone.


End file.
